NBC's Initial Olympics 'Trials' Win Tepid Ratings

Looking to entice sports viewers for its big August London Olympics push, NBC rolled out coverage of the U.S. Olympics Trials on Sunday. But it seems viewers need more
enticement.

NBC's "U.S. Olympics Trials" scored a Nielsen preliminary 1.2 rating/4 share among 18-49 viewers at 7 p.m. on Sunday -- which tied for the most-viewed show with NBC's
"Dateline." Later in the night, a rerun of NBC's "America's Got Talent" took in 1.2/3 for 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Bad as the numbers were for the "Trials," the numbers were in the range of
what this kind of programming has done in the past. Back in 2008 -- before the Beijing Olympics -- the "Olympic Trials" took in a 1.5 rating.

NBC was one of three networks to score over the
1 rating mark on the night. Univision was next with a 1.1/3 and ABC hit a 1.0/3. Fox and CBS tied with a 0.8/3. Except for NBC's "Trials" and "Dateline," all other networks were in repeats.

In terms of overall viewers, CBS took in the best results, at 5.7 million. NBC had 4.6 million; ABC had
3.4 million; Univision, 3.1 million and Fox, 2.1 million. Univision continues to make inroads with younger viewers. It earned a 1.2/4, followed by ABC and Fox, which each earned a 0.8/3, then NBC at a
0.7/3 and CBS at a 0.4/1.